Steve Drevik says the suspect isn't believed to have any connection to the church.

11:19 am

Steve Drevik, a member of the TVUU Church spoke to media outside the church building, where media are assembled.

He says the suspect is now in custody.

Drevik says the shooting happened during a regular service, as children of the church were performing music from Annie for parishioners.

A man with long blond hair, who appeared to be in his 40s, walked into the sanctuary and opened fiire with a shotgun, shooting indiscriminately.

At least six or seven people were hit by the gunfire. They have been transported to UT Medical Center. Two are believed to be in serious condition.

No children are believed to have been hit by the gunfire.

Some of the children were taken next door to Second Presbyterian Church for shelter.

Numerous KPD officers are on the scene.

11:00 am

Multiple people have suffered gunshot wounds in what witnesses describe as a mass shooting inside a church in West Knoxville Sunday morning.

The shootings happened at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church on Kingston Pike.

A witness who spoke to 10 News said police had arrived and one person was being detained at the scene.

A children's production of "Annie" was taking place as part of the normal Sunday service at the time of the shooting, the witness, who is a member of the church, said. The gunman walked into a packed sanctuary and opened fire.

The number of people shot and the extent of their injuries has not been confirmed, but the witness said he saw at least five people shot.

Church members heard a loud boom during the church service, which began around 10:15 a.m., the witness said. Several other loud booms followed, and the witness said the gunman seemed to be shooting randomly across a row of people. Two congregants tackled the gunman, he said.

Many people fled to the Second Presbyterian Church after the shooting, and that church was placed on lockdown, according to a 10 News crew at the scene. People have since been allowed to return to the Unitarian church building, where police are questioning witnesses.

The attacker in a situation like this always has the advantage of surprise and if has any gun training at all is going to shoot people before taken out. I don’t know about you, but I don’t sit in church watching for crazed gunmen every moment of the service. I have more important things to attend to.

This is a symptom of a culture that feels free to spew venomous hatred and bigotry against people of faith. There is no doubt we will begin to see more of this.

The vast majority of these incidents are personal. They occur because of some sort of issue between the perp and one of the congregants, or the perp and the church leadership. It follows the same pattern as shootings in the workplace, usually committed by a present or former employee who believes he's been wronged - not someone who just hates corporate America in general.

Unless you go to a Mega church I would guess you recognize visitors though.

Maybe it would be different for LE but American's aren't conditioned to violence. Even if armed the church goer would probably not realize what was happening until shots fired. It might even take a few more seconds to process that what they were witnessing was real.JAT

It was probably a mini-rally for The Obamassiah and they were singing "The sun will come out tomorrow ....". Otherwise, a musical about a poor orphan (Annie) who is befriended by a rich capitalist (Daddy Warbucks), doesn't really fit the UU agenda. Now maybe, if there were a lesbian relationship between Annie and Mommy Warbucks or Annie got pregnant and had to get raise money for an abortion, that would be truly a part of the UU world view.

My father, during his pastoring life, had confrontations with gunmen four times - once was a robbery during the church service, the other times were personal, i.e., a husband or father did not approve of the association of a female family member with the church.

However, I do believe the current anti-religious bent of the press and certain institutions offers an “excuse” to those with loose screws.

“Unitarian Universalism is a liberal religion with Jewish-Christian roots. It has no creed. It affirms the worth of human beings, advocates freedom of belief and the search for advancing truth, and tries to provide a warm, open, supportive community for people who believe that ethical living is the supreme witness of religion.”

In other words, a NEW AGE church.

What do you expect? God is NOT in the center of this church. Human beings are.

Not all events follow an ideological script. Maybe it turns out that the unitarians did a better job of tackling an invader than some recent church shootings of more mainline or evangelical churches. Sometimes facts are just facts. Sometimes people react as good people, whatever their other trappings. We’ll see.

Unitarian Universalism (UU), known officially as the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations in North America (with headquarters in Boston, Mass.), was officially formed in 1961 with the merger of two separate religious groups whose roots date back to the early 1500s -- the American Unitarian Association (1825) and the Universalist Church of America (1793). Unitarian Universalism is one of the most liberal of the denominations, being more akin to a society of free thinkers than a traditional "Christian" denomination.

In America, the religious liberalism that came to be known as Unitarianism appeared within the congregational churches in Massachusetts as a reaction against the revivalism of the Great Awakening (1740-43). Unitarianism prospered in the late-18th century among the Harvard elite, and emerged full bloom in the early-19th century as a rational, mystical, liberal religion that rejected the divinity of Christ as well as the Calvinist view of man as totally depraved. The Unitarians believed that man was not only morally perfectible, but that education was the only true way to salvation. Since they believed that evil was caused by ignorance, poverty, and social injustice, they were convinced that only a good liberal education, provided by the government at no charge, would solve society's problems (1/96, The Blumenfeld Education Letter, p. 2).

Universalism is the theological doctrine that all souls will ultimately be saved and that there are no torments of hell. Universalism has been asserted at various times in different contexts throughout the history of the "Christian church" -- e.g., Origen in the 3rd century. The Universalists also denied the miraculous element in Scripture, and rejected such important Bible doctrines as the total depravity of man and the Trinity.

There are currently about 205,000 Unitarian Universalist members in 1,040 congregations in North America. The beliefs of Unitarian Universalism appeal greatly to the "yuppie" generation of today -- no penalty for sin, no hell, salvation for all, ecumenism with all other religions, and extreme theological liberalism with no official creeds. Many in this "church" do not believe in Biblical Christianity, and some do not even want to be known as Christians. According to the Unitarian-Universalist 1985 revised statement, no minister, member, or congregation "shall be required to subscribe to any particular interpretation of religion, or to any particular religious belief or creed." Four of their seven Principles and Purposes are these: The inherent worth and dignity of every person; a free and responsible search for truth; the goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all; respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.

In their attempt to be "free thinking" and "non-creedal," the UUs have become so liberal that they deny almost every doctrine of the Christian faith, replacing the worship of God with a worship of self, teaching that human reason and experience take precedence over the Word of God. Below are the highlights of what the Unitarian Universalists "believe" concerning their source of authority, the Trinity, God, Christ, salvation, and heaven and hell:

Source of Authority. The UUs deny the divine inspiration and absolute authority of the Scriptures. They claim the Bible was merely the creation of men, and therefore, the Bible contains many "inaccuracies, inconsistencies, and errors." They substitute human reason for revelation as their source of authority, and believe there are no absolute or infallible guides, including reason. [HJB] In fact, UUs desire a world religion that "draws from and honors the teachings of all of the great religious traditions."

Trinity. The UUs deny that one God exists in three Persons. Instead, they claim that Trinitarian doctrine was added by the Council of Nicaea in A.D. 325.

God. The UUs hold a variety of liberal views about God: Some do not believe that He is a Person, but instead claim He is an impersonal spirit, a natural force, or a principle. Some even claim that He is a created being, not supernatural. Others even deny His existence completely.

Jesus Christ. The UUs deny the deity of Christ -- that He is not God and Savior, but only a good man and teacher. They claim that the apostles and other Christian writers added to the Scriptures the teachings concerning Christ's atonement for sin.

Salvation. The UUs teach that the essence of salvation is character development ("deeds not creeds"), rather than faith in Jesus Christ alone -- the "social gospel" reigns supreme in UU. This belief allows every person to do whatever is right in his own eyes as long as he is sincere about it (including homosexual behavior -- UU became the first denomination to call for the legal recognition of same-sex marriages [Associated Press:6/25/96]; as early as 1970, UUs called for an end to discrimination against homosexuals and bisexuals, and in 1980, UUs resolved that homosexuals should be ordained.).

Hell. The UUs hold the "universalist" belief that no one will be eternally condemned. They, therefore, deny the existence of hell, claiming it is unreasonable for a loving God to send people to a place of eternal torment. They believe that we suffer the consequences of sin in this life only.

41
posted on 07/27/2008 9:58:53 AM PDT
by Zakeet
(Be thankful we don't get all the government we pay for)

However, I do believe the current anti-religious bent of the press and certain institutions offers an excuse to those with loose screws.

Agree. Unbelievers don't see the difference between Bible-based churches and non-Bible-based churches. They hate them all. I think it was yesterday that police shot an armed man who was preparing to attack a Christian radio station.

Obviously we don't have the details yet, but the anti-Christian fervor that's building in this country and being fanned daily by the MSM, could easily have played a role.

Been watching this on local TV. I am not too far from Knoxville. Will be watching the news for the press conference, and praying for the victims.

It was up in Sequoia Hills end of Kingston Pike I'm pretty certain. I looked up the address. Remember late last year the nut that opened fire at Hooters? He was killed a few blocks from the church down in upper Bearden. Could have been anything. Homeless, a recent release from Lakeshore {not to far away either}, there's no telling. Sequoia Hills for those who do not know Knoxville is an upper scale and older neighborhood. Residence include Victor Ashe. There was a very good chance someone nearby was armed too. The community is in between the University of Tennessee and downtown section and West Knoxville where all the retailers have moved to.

46
posted on 07/27/2008 10:24:25 AM PDT
by cva66snipe
($.01 The current difference between the DEM's and GOP as well as their combined worth to this nation)

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